Ballmer on search: 'I don't like not being No. 1' — SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company may be the only one with a chance to rival Google in search over the long term, but acknowledged that it will take several more years and a whole lot of money.

Russian retailers to start Apple iPhone sales Oct 3 — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Major Russian home electronics and cell phone retailers said on Friday they would kick off Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPhone sales in Russia beginning on October 3, and estimated that 150,000 units could be sold by year end.

Of The People, By The People, For The People — Politweets was one of the first to mix Twitter and politics. Other interesting mash-ups were created by C-SPAN for both the RNC and the DNC. There's also the amazingly cool Perspctv and of course there's Current TV's plan to Hack The Debate.

Twitter to launch election site tonight — Longtime users of the micro-messaging service Twitter may have noticed something around the start of the political primary season: A lot of tweets (Twitter messages) about politics. To some this is annoying, to others, it's addicting.

Some screen shots from Vodafone-branded Blackberry Storm emerge — Some purported screen shots of Vodafone-branded Blackberry Storm have emerged today. If you believe what you see is for real, then you may be a bit disappointed. The resolution on the screen is quite nice but the interface, well, looks just like a Blackberry.

What Is The Deal With This Stupid Lighter iPhone App? — Everyone keeps talking about Smule's virtual lighter iPhone application called Sonic Lighter (iTunes link). — I wasn't impressed: there are no less than ten different virtual lighter apps in iTunes, which is what I'd call a saturated market.

Apple cuts iPhone 3G build plan; Suppliers to take a hit — Apple reportedly plans to build 14 million to 15 million iPhone 3Gs from a previous target of 18 million for 2008, according to a report from Pacific Crest. — Citing “supply chain channel checks” Apple's is cutting its iPhone 3G buildout.

To Splurge Or Not To Splurge — I went to bed with the news that McCain wasn't sure if he would support the splurge. Not that anyone needs my vote on this thing, but I woke up trying to figure out if I am in favor of it. So I'll read (links) and think outloud and hopefully get somewhere.

Griffin iPod Dock Simplifies Cluttered Desks — Look what Griffin did! It's another iPod dock, but this time it's actually useful. The Simplifi comes in at $70, but for that you get to toss out your media card reader and your USB hub. There's also an AC adapter for juice-sucking …

Announcing the Disqus API — I'm happy to announce that the first official release of our public API is now online. The methods provided are enough to let you write your own comment import tools, export tools, or even a custom Disqus plugin for your platform.

Google's End Run Around the Wireless Carriers — In a recently published patent, Google describes a vision for an open wireless world, one in which mobile devices (and smartphones in particular) are no longer married to particular cellular service providers.

NBC says local TV profoundly affected by downturn — LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. economic downturn has had a severe effect on broadcaster NBC's local television stations but the company has not yet seen an advertising slowdown at a national level, its chief executive said.

Glam Media Acquires German Countpart Codex Media? — Glam Media, the content network that mostly targets females, may have acquired a large German content network aimed at females, called Codex Media. — A tipster who has a connection to Codex Media first told TechCrunch about the possible acquisition …

Google Messes Up AdSense Exchange For Indian Rupee — A DigitalPoint Forums thread has a three page thread on the topic of Google messing up yet again with the exchange rate given to publishers. This time Google equated one US dollar to one Indian Rupee. The true current exchange rate is $1 US to 46.555 INR.

Oracle: Customers Pay Us for Stuff We'd Do Anyway — What's good for a tech company's shareholders isn't always the same as what's good for its customers. That was clear at Oracle's analyst day Thursday. — Downtown San Francisco this week has been turned into a pleasure dome …

Everyone hates ComScore — As the de facto measuring authority of online audiences, tiny ComScore punches above its weight - and earns some serious coin. — (Fortune Magazine) — Last winter, when Google lost a third of its market value, analysts blamed a small web-research company based in Reston, Va., called ComScore.